SUNS win two against St. Nicks
SUNS HOCKEY SUMMARY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2024
SUNS 6, ST. NICKS 2
New York St. Nicks 0.................. 0 .............. 2 ..................2
Sun Valley Suns 3.................. 1 .............. 2 ..................6
FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Ben Barton 2 (Owen Powers, Ace Cowans), 4:23. (2) SV, Powers 6 (Parker Weekes, Ace Cowans), 15:17. (3) SV, Dylan Shamburger 9 (Joey Sides, Drew Tallet), 19:46.
SECOND PERIOD—(4) SV, Mike Curry 3 (Justin Taylor), 11:48.
THIRD PERIOD—(5) St. Nicks, Ben Solin (Todd Keats, Nick Sullivan), 7:11. (6) St. Nicks, Jordan Jancze (David Italiano, Keats), 9:38. (7) SV, Taylor 12 (Powers), 10:59. (8) SV, Weekes 16 (Ace Cowans), 19:26, empty net goal.
SHOTS ON GOAL—New York St. Nicks 13-9-14 for 36; Sun Valley 12-6-11 for 29.
GOALIES—New York St. Nicks, Jay Schoen (27 saves, 58 minutes played, 5 goals allowed); Sun Valley, Ben McLean (34 saves, 7-2 record).
OFFICIALS—Alec Schnitzler and Scott Debaugh (referees); Dan Choma and Tyler Hanson (linesmen).
SPECTATOR COUNT—576.
NOTES—Sun Valley forward lines were Owen Powers-Ace Cowans-Parker Weekes, Spencer Brendel-Max Tardy-Joey Sides, Chad O’Brien-Justin Taylor-Dylan Shamburger, Taylor Rothgeb-Derek Grimes-Zane Cowans. Defensemen were Sean O’Grady-Mike Curry, D.J. Robinson-Doug Yeates, Ben Barton-Drew Tallet………The Suns set the tone for the weekend by scoring three times on just 12 shots in the first 20 minutes, and also killing off two powers plays in the opening stanza. It might have been 4-0, but Nicks goalie Jay Schoen made a spectacular save on an Ace Cowans bid, from Joey Sides, in the 18th minute….
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2024
SUNS 6, ST. NICKS 2
New York St. Nicks 1.................. 0 .............. 1 ..................2
Sun Valley Suns 3.................. 2 .............. 1 ..................6
FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Joey Sides 15 (Mike Curry), 2:08. (2) St. Nicks, Callum Cusinato (Nick Sullivan), 3:30. (3) SV, Sean O’Grady 4 (Mike Curry, Owen Powers), 6:40, power play goal. (4) SV, Justin Taylor 13 (Ben Barton, Drew Tallet), 19:38.
SECOND PERIOD—(5) SV, Ben Barton 3 (Ace Cowans, O’Grady), 13:38, power play goal. (6) SV, Max Tardy 12 (Barton Sides), 18:13.
THIRD PERIOD—(7) SV, Mike Curry 4 (Tardy, Parker Weekes), 13:09, power play goal. (8) St. Nicks, Conor Lamberti (Chris Roll, Jake Turrin), 14:47, power play goal.
SHOTS ON GOAL—New York St. Nicks 16-11-12 for 39; Sun Valley 12-12-6 for 30.
GOALIES—New York St. Nicks, Jay Schoen (24 saves); Sun Valley, Tripp Hutchinson (37 saves, 8-1 record).
OFFICIALS—Scott Debaugh and Alec Schnitzler (referees); David Patrie and Eric Wingard (linesmen).
SPECTATOR COUNT—656 (weekend total 1,232)
NOTES—The well-balanced Suns boasted six different goal scorers tonight, just like six different players scored for the Suns on Friday……Usually dominated by visiting St. Nicks teams in the early days of the long rivalry, the Suns have turned it around in five meetings since 2016. The Suns have won seven of the last nine games including 2-game sweeps in 2017, 2022 and 2024. The streak began at Campion Ice House with goalie Matt Cooper’s 1-0 shutout victory in 2016, which represented Sun Valley’s first win in nine years over St. Nicks……The Suns defense and sturdy goaltender tandem continued their stellar play all weekend. Over the current 7-game winning streak, the Suns have allowed only 14 goals, an average of 2 per game………Sun Valley out-pointed St. Nicks 32-11 on the scoresheet led by 4 points apiece from Ben Barton, Owen Powers, Ace Cowans and Mike Curry…….Third-year blueliner Barton is having a breakout year and successful partnership with Drew Tallet on defense. Barton had 3 goals and 8 assists for his first two seasons. This year, through 18 games, Barton has 3 goals and 11 assists for 14 points…..Eleventh-year center Justin Taylor (110 goals, 104 assists for 214 points) moved past the legendary Phil Hoene into No. 18 on the Suns’ all-time scoring list. Taylor is already the 10th-ranked all-time goal scorer with 110 goals….Center Max Tardy, in his seventh season, has moved into No. 25 on the all-time list with 90 goals and 97 assists for 187 points….Over 14 home games, the Suns have drawn 9,097 fans, an average of 650 per game. Counting the Dec. 22 holiday exhibition that attracted 588 spectators, the total Suns home count is 9,685 for 15 dates, an average 646 each game………